• Services
• Accommodation: on-campus
• Accommodation: off-campus
• Bookshop
• Careers and employment
• Chaplains
• Childcare
• Complaints
• Counselling and personal development
• Deakin Card
• Disability resource centre
• Food services
• Financial assistance
• Health Services
• Jobshop
• Parking
• Student equity
• Study skills

What is the value of a general degree?

Many students do degrees such as Arts or Science that are fairly general. These provide generic transferable skills which equip them for work in a variety of roles. Specialisation is often done after through post graduate courses and work experience.

Skills

A university degree will develop your written and oral communication, your ability to work individually and in a team to achieve goals within a time frame, to analyse and interpret information and to use it to solve problems or further understanding. You will also develop interpersonal skills, learn important information and discover how to find out more.

Your time at university is also a time for developing yourself as a person and being exposed to ideas, people and experiences you might otherwise not come across.

• Employers value the knowledge and skills developed at university so a degree can open many doors.
• If you are unsure exactly on your career direction, which is quite common, you can sample a variety of units and not get locked into things you don't like. Use your general degree as a time for research and developing a focus.
• Combined degree courses with specialised areas enable development of both the specialist and generalist skills.
• Your degree can allow you to explore areas of interest in ways otherwise unavailable. This can test whether you wish to make them a career.
• After a general degree you may be clearer about further study or employment options.

Specialist and vocational degrees

Students who have very clear ideas about their career direction undertake courses that are specifically targeted. These develop specialist knowledge and skills as well as providing generic skills as above.

• Employers seek these specific attributes for particular jobs so your degree can make you readily employable
• You may decide to apply your skills more creatively in non-mainstream occupations or those not normally associated with your course. Being able to articulate what you can do and how you have developed personally can be helpful.